Page 17 - Unlikely Stories 4

Gorgonzola

product ready for the annual Cheese Society conference six months
in the future.
Success proved elusive. The ingredients were correct, and his
procedures were meticulous. But he could not duplicate the taste,
aroma or texture of the original. Penicillium glaucum did its job, creating
a rich blue-green marbling throughout the creamy soft cheese; and
his employee did his, churning, timing and monitoring temperature
and humidity according to long-established best practices. Yet
Steinman’s Dairy Small Batch Gorgonzola did not differ significantly
from what was sold in two-pound tubs in America as “gorgonzola.”
The venture was not going well. Despite running as a bare-bones
operation, it was burning cash at an unsustainable rate.
Something was missing, Elster decided. Those old-world artisans
had techniques not susceptible to reverse-engineering from their
finished goods half a world away. Already committed to duplicating
Salvezza Cieca, he would go to its source for a closer look. He left his
employee in charge of the dairy and flew to Milan. There he engaged
a student eager to practice English as guide and translator for a
nominal sum. All the young man knew was that an American wished
to visit a small rural caseificio in the region. They proceeded by train
and bus to Pascolo Strano, the village named on labels of the as-yet
inimitable blue cheese.
Elster and Lucio, his guide, checked in to the local inn. The travel-
weary American reviewed his notes on key points in the processing
of il formaggio tipo gorgonzola, while the young Italian talked to the
locals. Lucio did not learn much: the cheesemakers of Salvezza Cieca
kept to themselves, virtually self-sufficient in their corner of the
valley. The next morning the two strangers set out on foot down a
donkey path winding through the fields. They came to the dairy, a
jumble of ramshackle buildings surrounded by a sturdy fence.
Through it Elster could see a small garden containing a fountain and
other stone sculpture, and beyond it a stack of large milk cans outside
one of the interior structures. He concluded it was where the cheese
was made. His objective was in sight.
But no one else could be seen about the place. Lucio called out in
Italian several times, and Elster banged on the door of the only
building facing the road. After repeating those entreaties several
16